Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo close in on all-time historical goal scoring record in football

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are on the cusp of entering the 600 goal club, and a stone’s throw away from scaling the all-time domestic goal scoring record set by Pele.

Messi and Ronaldo

His brace against Manchester United at the Nou Camp in midweek took Lionel Messi to the top of the UEFA Champions League goalscorers chart for the season. He also leads the race for the Pichichi and the European Golden Shoe.

The Argentinian wizard has a mind boggling 45 goals and 21 assists in 42 games so far this season and has a total tally of 597 goals for Barcelona – just 3 shy of the 600 goal club.

Ronaldo, who scored for Juventus in both legs against Ajax despite going on to be eliminated, also has 597 goals club goals to his name. However, the Portuguese superstar has taken 796 games to raise his tally while Lionel Messi has done it in just 679 games.

The all time club goal scoring record is held by Pele, who has 650 goals in 697 domestic league matches, which means that both Messi and Ronaldo are only 53 goals away from equalling that record.

Ronaldo is 34 years old while Lionel Messi is 32, and while the former may not have too many more years left in top level football, the Argentinian magician certainly seems odds on to usurp Pele’s record